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MILAN, Italy (AFP) – Milan will ban cars from driving within the city on Sunday, a measure aimed at tackling high pollution levels, even as authorities consider new measures, such as prohibiting smoking at bus stops. The measure – which is not the first time that Italy’s economic capital has banned driving within city limits – has been met with skepticism by some, with the regional counsellor for the environment, Raffaele Cattaneo, calling it “demagogy […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Scientists will begin a two-year survey of microplastics in the coastal waters of Japan from April, a research group announced on Wednesday, with concern growing about the impact of plastics on the oceans. The survey organized by Japanese scientists and the Tara Ocean Foundation will be conducted by several marine research facilities located across Japan, from the northern island of Hokkaido to southwestern Kyushu. Researchers will collect samples for analysis of microplastics […]
TORONTO, Canada (AFP) – A court in Toronto on Wednesday ordered Volkswagen to pay a fine of Can$196.5 million (US$150 million) after the automaker pleaded guilty to violating environmental laws in the emissions cheating scandal. The court accepted an agreement that the German automaker reached with the Canadian government, which in December filed a 60-count indictment against the company. This fine is in addition to nearly Can$2.4 billion that Volkswagen had agreed to pay in […]
India leads the world in pollution-linked deaths followed by China and Nigeria, according to a report published Wednesday that estimated the global impact of contaminants in the air, water and workplace. The report by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) found pollution to be the largest environmental cause of premature death on the planet, causing 15 percent of all deaths — some 8.3 million people. Among the ten countries with the most pollution […]
by Alia DHARSSI Agence France-Presse VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) — The world’s first fully electric commercial aircraft took its inaugural test flight on Tuesday, taking off from the Canadian city of Vancouver where tall mountain peaks edge the Pacific Ocean. “This proves that commercial aviation in all-electric form can work,” said Roei Ganzarski, chief executive of Seattle-based engineering firm magniX. The company designed the plane’s motor and worked in partnership with Harbour Air, which ferries half […]
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Bangladesh said Tuesday it will shut hundreds of soot-belching brick kilns around its capital Dhaka as part of measures to reduce thick smog enveloping the city and pushing air quality levels to among the world’s worst. Residents in several other cities in South Asia, including India’s capital New Delhi and Lahore in Pakistan, have also been breathing toxic smog in recent weeks amid uncontrolled emissions and crop burning. Air Visual, an […]
by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA Agence France Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — A thick grey smog choked New Delhi for the fifth day Saturday, adding to a mounting pollution health crisis, but retired naval commander Anil Charan is one of the vast majority of the city’s 20 million inhabitants who do not wear a mask. Indian media is packed with warnings about the risk of premature death, lung cancer and particular danger to children from […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Schools in Tehran were ordered to be closed on Wednesday after the Iranian capital was cloaked in dangerously high levels of air pollution, authorities said. Governor Anoushiravan Mohseni-Bandpey said kindergartens, preschools, and primary schools would be shut in the city and the counties of Gharchak, Pishva and Varamin. “The air quality index for the city of Tehran still has not passed the unhealthy status for sensitive groups,” he was quoted as […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah Riyad won the toss and elected to bowl in the opening Twenty20 international against India in a pollution-stricken New Delhi on Sunday. The Indian capital has been blanketed by smog with authorities saying air pollution had reached “emergency” levels, with schools closed and other restrictions imposed. But the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to change the venue due to logistical issues, although president […]
by Aishwarya Kumar NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel urged greater efforts to clean up New Delhi’s toxic air as she pledged one billion euros to help Indian cities switch to green transport. Merkel became a rare foreign leader to speak out on India’s smog crisis after being exposed to the capital’s air on Friday, when authorities said the pollution had reached “emergency” levels. Schools were ordered closed until Tuesday and all […]
by Ivan Couronne Agence France Presse Most of the plastic bottles washing up on the rocky shores of Inaccessible Island, aptly named for its sheer cliffs rising from the middle of the South Atlantic, probably come from Chinese merchant ships, a study published Monday said. The study offers fresh evidence that the vast garbage patches floating in the middle of oceans, which have sparked much consumer hand-wringing in recent years, are less the product of […]
https://youtu.be/RN8bYpnBgtg THESSALONIKI, Greece (AFP) — Thousands of fish washed up dead on the shores of Lake Koroneia in northern Greece on Thursday as a result of high temperatures and declining water levels, authorities said. A long period of drought and high temperatures left the fish high and dry, Dimitra Bobori, responsible for lakes in the Macedonia region, told AFP. The lake, 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the city of Thessaloniki, has experienced the phenomenon repeatedly […]
